Bugatti EB110 to make a comeback

Bugatti EB110 to make a comeback

Tony Middlehurst - Autocar

Published:7:00 amFebruary 7, 2018

US supercar specialists Casil Motors is recreating the old Bugatti EB110 as the £600k SP-110 Edonis Fenice

26 years ago, before VW took over the company, Bugatti was building the EB110. It was a pretty uncompromising and a very distinctive looking thing, and a Top Trumps favourite: powered by a 550bhp, quad-turbocharged 3.5-litre V12, the four-wheel drive EB110 had a claimed top end of 212mph.

It cost £285,500 new, the equivalent of around £520,000 today. Now, Las Vegas-based ‘bespoke supercar specialists’ Casil Motors is aiming to build 15 examples of its SP-110 Edonis Fenice, at prices starting from around £600,000.

The SP-110 isn’t a direct descendant of the EB110. It’s actually an evolution of the B Engineering Edonis, which was put together by a bunch of ex-Bugatti employees in 2001 after the Italian rebirth of the famous French brand went pop in 1995.

The original EB110

That B Engineering Edonis had an aluminium body based on a modified version of the EB110’s carbonfibre monocoque chassis, a number of which had been bought from the old Bugatti factory. The motive force was provided by a 720bhp, twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre development of the Bugatti’s 550bhp, quad-turbo 3.5 V12. They binned the 4WD transmission in favour of a rear-drive setup running a six-speed manual gearbox as per the EB110.

It was a serious car. The head engineer was Nicola Materazzi, who had form on the Lancia Stratos, Ferrari Testarossa, Ferrari F40, and Ferrari Formula 1 cars in addition to the EB110, and the plan was to build 21 Edoni (?), but it never happened.

Luckily, B Engineering carried on providing servicing facilities for EB110 owners, a useful state of affairs that was doubtless a contributing factor to Casil’s decision to buy the Edonis rights in 2017.
Now, Casil Motors is funding production of the SP-110 at B Engineering’s Italian workshop. It’s calling it “the ultimate analogue supercar”.

Given that Autocar described the original EB110 as “sensationally dynamic, but useable every day”, despite not developing its peak power until 8000rpm – a nice excuse to poke the beast to ear-splitting levels (Knightsbridge residents beware) – Casil could be right about the potential of the substantially powered-up SP-110. Using that B Engineering 720bhp 3.8 V12 engine in a unique, fully homologated, Bugatti-produced EB110 chassis, they’re claiming a 0-60mph time of 3.4sec, a 0-100mph time of 8.2sec and a top whack of 220mph.

If you fancy the idea of becoming an early adopter of a late bloomer, Casil Motors is now taking surprisingly small $2500 deposits against orders. As you’d expect, you’ll be invited to play a role in creating your own bespoke interior, using a range of exterior paint colours that will include original EB110 hues.